Method of soldering caps to cans.



B. HAUSHEBR.

METHOD OF SOLDBRING 02% T0 CANS.

APPLIGATION IILJEDIJULY 27, 1912.

L105 7'78. Patented Aug. 4, 19-14.

0r" [f 46:: e s l Jew mm? Mm I af/we UNITED? STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BEBNARIDHAUSHEER, OENORWICH, NEW YORK, .ASSIGNOR T0 BORDENS CONDENSED MILK COMPANY, OFNEW YORK, N. Y-{A CORPORATION OF NEWJERSEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Angel, 1914.

To all 'whom it may concern Be it known that I, BERNARD HAUsnEER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Norwich, in the county ofChenango and, State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Method ofwSoldering Caps to Cans,of which the following 1s a specification.

I My present invention relates to thesoldering of metallic caps to metallic cans,to, hermetically seal the latter, whereby their con tents, such as condensed milk ifor example, are therein retained, and protected against invasion by undesired bacteria, dirt, etc.

The ob ects of my invention compr se production of more uniformly -air-tightand perfect seams with greater speed and with less consumption, or waste, of solder than heretofore, also saving mwear of machinery.

I attain these objects by my method as hereinafter described and as applied by aid of the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a filled can the capl of which has been soldered on by my met ofthe end containing the opening of said can prior to placing and soldering the cap thereon; Fig. 3 is a vertical central sectional view of part of Fig. 2, the can top belng shown as when the can is in vertical pos1- tion; Fig. 4 is a topplanperspective view of the cap isolated; F 1g. 5 is a central transversesectional view taken on the dotted line y--y of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of my novel ring-shaped solders; Fig. 7 is a central vertical sectional view of the can, cap, and ring-shaped solder, including also a diagrammatic and artly central sectional view of arts of devlces utilizable to melt and iron t e solder.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a usual type of cylindrical tin can, provided in its top with a therewith concentric circular opemng A.

I practice my said method as follows: Having ascertained the diameter of the endless circular joint to beformed by soldering, this joint being equal to the diameter of the circular cap a measured at its edge a on the dotted line a -a (Fig. 5), I produce in any convenient manner a ring-shaped umtary piece of solder b (Figs. 6 and 7) the diameter of which taken :at the center of the material constituting such ring 1s substanod; Fig. 2 is a perspective view Application filed I u1y 27, 1912. Serial No. 711,775.

tially equal to the aforesaid diameter of the ca Said ring is solid, composed of solder wire of substantially circular cross-section as shown in Fig. 7. I have contrived mechanical means for automatically producing such rmgshaped pieces of solder with requisite uniformity and economy on industrial scales,

which means I do not claim or show herein, these being the subject of my co-pendin a plication, Serial Number 697,139, file ay 14, 1912, it beingunderstood that my present invention is not dependent on the means, ormanner, of producing my said rm shaped pieces of solder.

. y procedure enables a diameter, or gage, .of solder wire to be selected which will afford, as nearly aspossible, only the exact amount of solder required to make a tight seam of the particular size and style of joint desired in an articular case. It will also beunderstoo t at it is not essential that my said ring, should be. absolutely continuous, or endless, a slightly open joint as at b Fig. 6 being permissible, since the flow of t e sol er, in melti down, closes the joint at once without un esirable movements of the solder.

It is im ort-ant to insure immersion of the oint init e solder bath resulting. from the hereinafterdescribed melting of said ring. ThlS I accomplish by taking advantage of the usual. flange surrounding the edge of the can'opening. I take care to produce this flange insuch form as toimpart to the top of the can, a continuous, or endless, therewith concentric, circular trough c of uniform cross-section, and of capacity sutficient not only to receive and support therein all of the edge of theca but also to retain therein the flux, and a so solder resulting from the melting of the ring. The bottom of said trough should be as nearly as possible in a single plane and, when the can is set up, on the level as indicated by the dotted line 0 -42 of Fig. 3.

To the usuall continuous or endless circular edge of t e concavo-convex cap a I, preferably, impart such contour as to enable it to support the cap on the level, 2'. e. on substantially a single horizontal plane as im dicated by the dotted lines a a in Fig. 5. It will beunderstood that otherwise the cap may be of any preferred shape.

The partsbeing preliminarily prepared as aforesaid in the practice of my method,

my next step, is, by any convenient means, to support and hold the can so disposed as to have its said trough level and opening upwardly as shown in Figs. 3 and 7. This ficient flux as usual.

My next step is; to melt the solder ringas preliminary to ironing; To accomplish this.

done, the cap a is manually or otherwise deposited upon the can so as to cover its opening, the supporting edge of the cap being disposed within, and upheld by, said trough, as shown in Fig. 7 I next deposit my cold, 7;. 6. solid, solder ring so that it restsunat tached. upon the can or cap or both,,being throughout over, or in close proximit to, the openseam between the surface 0 the trough and the thereby supported cap edge. To theparts thus assembled is supplied sutany convenient means maybe emplofyed but as it is preferable that-my ring 0 solder" should be melted assn'early simultaneously throughout as possible, I prefer to employ the well known form of rotatable cylindrical soldering-iron d indicated diagrammatically in central vertical section invFigq 7 combined, with the usual centering and.

The iron at and rodeingsupported as usual above the can,

cap-holding rod 0. e

the latter with its asabove described assembled cap, ring,-and flux is centered under the iron. The holding rod is then, as usual,

lowered to bear upon the cap which it holds down in position as shown-1n Fig. 7. This invention to attain.-

I am aware thatprior to my present invention the use of preliminarily'prepared rings of solder has been suggested, and I do, not wish to be understood as'broadly claimdone the 1IOI1 sufliciently heated as usual is lowered sufficiently to enable the heat therebysupplied to melt the solder. After the solder. has melted I pause in the operation sufliciently to enable the gases, etc., from the flux to rise out of the body of the solder. This done, the iron is still further lowered until it contacts the molten solder and the iron is then rotated around its vertical axis until the solder has beensufiiciently ironed,

at a plurality of points simultaneously, as is essential to produce a seam" having the superior qualities which it is the object of my ing anything thus'previously disclosed, the which,.I believe, to beclearly differentiable from, if not inferior to, my said methodas i a novel-combination of steps in procedure.

For example, the detached ring, or washer,

of solder shownin U. S. Patent to ,Morris, No. 140,840, isnot like mine of solid and circular cross section, but is composed of'a plurality of inter-twisted strands of solder wire, and it is not ironed after being allowed to stand for aninterval. aftermeltmg. The

ring of solder disclosed by, NortonsPatent No. 364,663 is likewise not, like mine, of

.none of thelhitherto disclosed,methods of employing preliminarily prepared solder rings are able to attain the good results of my present method because failing to'conform to :the latter in the combination of details of shapes and procedure above de scribed as characterizing: my present invention.

by Letters Patent is the following, viz

The method of soldering caps tocans which comprises assembling and supporting What I claim as'new. and desire tosecure "adjacent the joint between themxunmolten solder and flux, melting said solder by: ap-

proximating thereto without contacting therewith a source of heat, supporting the resulting bath so that said joint is immersed thereby, andmaintaining it undisturbed by mechanical. agitation until resulting gases have risen outof it, and finally ironing it at a pluralityof points simultaneously until.

the joint is soldered. BERNARD HAUSHEER. Witnesses:

DAVID F; LEE, JoHN LEE. 

